The training grounds turned out to be a dry brown field on the other side of the gardens. Cylindrical paper lanterns were hovering of their own accord over the field, emanating a steady orange light and stirring very slightly in the evening breeze.

There was a small crowd congregated beneath the lanterns; most of them, Liya realized, were wearing uniform pants like the ones the soldiers in Violetta had worn, and black shirts. They ranged around two more soldiers in the center of the field, watching, all of them rather human-shaped but for what looked like a large gryphon sitting patiently on its haunches.

The soldiers in the middle of the field were opposites--one was androgynous, with long dark hair and icy blue eyes and a body shaped like a cat's. They wore an unnerving sort of smile, and they held a long reed staff, around which bright white tendrils of light curled, dancing soundlessly in the darkness. The other soldier was thick-framed, fair-skinned and red-haired, and could have been human, for all Liya knew. They were circling each other warily, each brandishing the same reed staff.

As Liya and Yoshi reached the clearing, the dark-haired soldier jumped at the other one, going for his knees; the thick soldier leapt back and brought his own staff whistling around. They hit with a resounding crack, and the tendrils of energy erupted upwards in a blinding column of orange light with a loud POW.

Yoshi didn't seem altogether too interested, but Liya watched curiously, realizing neither the lanterns nearby nor the torrent of energy were giving off any heat.

"Ooh," she murmured.